[Otony]

I specifically mean the conventional style stock that Choate makes, not the Dagunov or pistol grip version.

I am sort of curious about whether or not these can be bedded. I have read and heard in the past that some of the "plastic" synthetic stocks (as opposed to fiberglass) won't take bedding well. Something to do with the release agent used on the molds while casting 'em out of whatever plastic Choate uses.

Anyone ever heard this? Experienced it? I prefer the Choate stock over the Hogue, as I am not sure just how long the rubber coating Hogue uses will last. My experience with Hogue, Mershon, and Pachmayr rubber grips has been that deterioration sets in after a few years, so I want to avoid the Hogue stock (which CAN be bedded if I understand correctly).

Wow, I didn't really intend to make this such a tedious post, but if anyone has any suggestions.....?

I may just stay with the factory stock, and paint it after bedding it.:usa:

 

[bushwack]

Otony---Be asured that any stock can be bedded. Some stocks need a little more attention than others. The bedding is no better than the surface it's applied to. That means the surface the bedding is to adhere to has to be clean. In the case of synthetic stocks the surface has to be roughed with sandpaper & sometimes gouging or small holes need to be drilled to give the bedding a surface to adhere to. If you'll do a search for Mike Knifong you'll find his contact information. Mike has a video on bedding the Mini & covers both wooden & synthetic stocks.

Good shooting
Bushwack

 

[cajungeo]

Welcome to the forum Otony. I agree with bushwack. Any stock can be bedded. The choate, and butler creek stocks have a different type of plastic, a polyurethene I believe. In mike knifongs bedding video he beds a butler creek, and shows how to bed it by drilling or dremmeling several holes about 1/8" deep (not thru the stock!) just in the receiver area, this forms a mechanical lock for the beding to be locked in. Also the surface has to be abraided, and cleaned before bedding. He has bedded hundreds of mini stocks, so he has seen it all.

I have a Hogue stock, I hadn't heard about the bonded rubber coming off. Only time will tell. My bedding job worked out well. It got rid of the 3" flyers, and tightened up my average groups by 3/4". It works for me.

 

[Otony]

Thanks gentleman,

I had my doubts solely because a well known 'smith discussed this issue with me many years ago. He claimed, and I have since read, that certain types of plastics would not hold the usual bedding agents very well. He felt that it had to do with the release agents sprayed into the mold before casting the stock.

Since I worked in the plastics industry many (many!) years ago, I was familar with release agents, but had never tried using bedding compounds on stocks thus treated. Hence the request for info.

It always seemed odd to me that the release agent could not be chemically cleansed, even if it had bonded with the stock during molding, or that there wasn't something that could be used to form a bond to the existing plastics used. Cajungeo, Bushwack, your mention of the "mechanical" bond being formed makes nothing but sense to me, and was actually the avenue I had considered using. I also considered that there are a few more choices of bedding agents used these days than 15 years back. Certainly one of these should be usable.

By the way, I didn't meant to imply that the rubber coating pealed off Hogue stocks. Rather, it has been my experience that over time, rubber grips begin to deteriorate. An old Pachmayr grip will show crumbling and cracks, as well as a surface sort of powdery coating. The powder effect especially seems to show up on grips that aren't used much, whilst the crumbling and cracking appears universal.

I would suspect this may well have to do with UV rays , and perhaps temperature, abrasion, etc. I have not seen this occur on Hogue stocks, but have observed it on Hogue grips. This was my concern, that the stock coating might have problems further on down the road.

If you have ever been in the service, or have seen photos of used military gear, notice that anything painted, coated, dipped, plated, etc, will show considerable wear. It isn't always due to poor maintenance either.

I would imagine that Hogue has likely addressed the issue with a different rubber compound, as it is more costly to change a stock than a set of grips. Still, until more time has passed, I would rather use something for which we have a proven record, such as an uncoated stock. No sense going through the bedding process, and then having to replace the stock 5 years or so down the road.

My intentions with the Mini-14 are to do the following:

After purchase of what will be my 3rd Mini, shoot it for groups, to set a standard of comparison. Then....

Bed either the factory wood stock or a Choate stock. If the wood stock, I will install one of the replacement butt pads that on are on the market, and paint it to give me that "tactical" appearance.

Be certain that the gas block is stress free and torqued correctly.

Install one of the "magic" gas ports everyone raves about (makes perfect sense), along with a good buffer.

Shoot it at this point, and check if groups have improved, using the same variety of ammunition as the base comparison. If it performs better, but I still see room for improvement, I will likely have Dave Clay cut the barrel and install the Choate sight/muzzle brake.

This, along with a trigger job and a supply of ProMag 10 round magazines (thanks California), will just have to see me through! :usa:

 

[cajungeo]

Sounds like a good plan to me.